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Alan's Catalina !
Alan's Catalina !
It doesn't seem like 12 months ago since I reported the last Breakup day, boy, time does go quick.
This year was to be a double celebration, with the opening of the club house on the agenda along with our normal club presentations.
First off,was the opening of the new Club house. The property owner, (our landlord) was invited to perform the official opening of the new clubhouse, which he excepted to do, which was very pleasing for us.
At about 11.30 we were all invited to come and enjoy a BBQ lunch, which was organised by Andrew and Macca, who did a superb job with the catering.
By 1pm most of the members and guests had finish feeding, a quick cleanup, then time to set the trophies and prepare for the start of proceedings/presentations.
Les called all to attention, and gave a run down on what was proposed for the day, then invited the President Mr Andrew Thomas, to start the official proceedings.
After the welcome Andrew spoke on the struggle to get the first clubhouse up and running, and now 20 years later we have this new club house thats bigger and alot better, and about the workers that got in, and prepared this clubhouse, as it is today.
Then our special guest Mr Rowlan McKinnon was introduced, and he made a short speech that was quite entertaining, before he unveiled the wall plaque.
Following that Les presented the Bendigo Council grant, to the President Andrew Thomas, for a new water tank, that is to be fitted to the new clubhouse.
Now to the Clubman awards for 2009. Fifteen members had managed to score clubman points this year. Also this year Les has got together a goodies bag for each trophy recipient who were at the presentation.
Winners were:
| One point | Roy Butterfield and Phil Organ. |
| Two pts | Gary Schmedje and Darren Tuohey. |
| Three pts | Noel Young,Steve Davis and G Sinclair. |
| Four pts | Graeme Beagley and Mal Fields. |
| Nine pts | Brian Deason. |
| Ten pts | Ian Heather,Shaun Power and Alan Uren. |
| Clubman for the year | Les Davis. |
| The Thunder Tiger trophy | Shaun Power, |
| The Mitre 10 trophy | Graeme Beagley |
| with a special prize attached, (this year only.) |
Two special awards were made, one to Graeme Sinclair for his competitive skills, and the other to Les Davis for his long serving skills as Contest Director, etc.
Our special guest was presented with a 6 pack of our clubs glasses.
There were 5 past Presidents in attendance which was great, and thankyou to them for making the effort to attend. Also honorary member Ken Thomas made the trip up from Melbourne to attend, which was nice.
The president then thanked everybody, for their support during the year, and wished everybody a safe and merry Christmas.
For next years contest Calendar, you will have to wait for the newsletter to come out, the Five man rules committee should have the rules sorted by then, as well as the events that the new rules, relate to.
There is Photos by Bill Matthews.
Report by Les Davis 5620.
All Members and Families are welcome to attend, on Sunday the 6th December, a special day for our club. It will consist of the opening of the New Club House and facilities, by our special guest Mr Rowlan McKinnon. (Our flying field landlord)
This day is also our end of year, the Christmas break up, and Clubman trophy presentations, the free BBQ and drinks, etc will be on from about 11.30 until 12.30. Then preparations will be made for the official opening of the clubhouse to take place at around 1.00pm, followed by our clubman trophy presentation.
Club members are invited to bring along at least one (1) aircraft, for the purpose of flying or static display. An aeroplane club without any aircraft may seem a little strange, especially, to our special guest.
Flying is permitted before lunch, and after the presentations are completed, so come along and be a part of your club, on this memorable occasion, and enjoy the day with the rest of us.
Photos by Bill Matthews
On Sunday 8th November, the BRCAC hosted the Open Thermal Competition which is an event scheduled by the Radio Control Gliding Association as part of the Thermal League Competition.
The day dawned with fine, warm and sunny conditions and became warmer as the day progressed.
The competition kicked off at about 10-30am with 15 entries taking part. This was really pleasing as we were able to fly 3 heats per round with 5 pilots in each heat.
The use of the laptop with the program designed for this type of competiton made the draw easy and fair.
This year we flew with two rule changes. Firstly, instead of the traditional 2OO metre winch line length, we used 150 metres. Secondly, the spot landing tape has been reworked in the first 2 metres.
Both of these rule changes are to make it harder to achieve maximum points.
During the course of the day there was some good lift to be found but there was also sink to be avoided. Fortunately, for most of the day, the slight breeze that was there, did persist from a north easterly direction, however at times, heats were launching with a tailwind. This was probably due to the thermal activity.
In total, 6 rounds were flown with 1 dropper and the competition wound up at 4.00pm. All in all, it was a really good day, but even with good conditions the flying can still be difficult. Coping with the heat, flies, grass seeds, launching into the sun and with a tailwind and the pressure of trying to achieve maximum points in a 12 minute working time can still bring the best of pilots undone.
As the C.D for the day, I would like to thank the R.C.G.A, the B.R.C.A.C. and of course all the pilots who took part and made it such a great event.
Thank you
Terry Passalaqua - Contest Director.
The results are as follows -
| 1. | Jim Houdalakis | 5000 |
| 2. | Alan Mayhew | 4986 |
| 3. | Gerry Carter | 4981 |
| 4. | Danny Haskel | 4980 |
| 5. | Theo Arvanitakis | 4976 |
| 5. | David Hobby | 4976 |
| 6. | Carl Strautins | 4966 |
| 7. | Max Kroger | 4895 |
| 8. | David Pratley | 4870 |
| 9. | Bernie Sizer | 4868 |
| 10. | Darrel Blow | 4774 |
| 11. | Garry Whitfield | 4691 |
| 12. | Brett Anthony | 4420 |
| 13. | Graham Norman | 4270 |
| 14. | Paul Dumsday | 1650 |
The 2 Texans of Steve and Les won the Cootamundra Large Scale Racing (AT6) easily over the Weekend.
Again some of the regulars were missing, but there was a few new faces to race with this year.
The weather conditions were ideal for flying, but they got caught out with the long grass on the field, we had to wait for the grass to be cut before the racing could start.
This year only 3 Vics were present, and they took the first 3 places in the Texan Class. Gregg Lepp came in 3rd.
We had a very easy weekend, every thing worked with no hassles. We just flew and chatted then flew again. This was the easiest comp that we've had to race in. I can't wait until next year!
Les Davis.
The day started with a change of venue to the Marong field due to the long grass at the Glider field – weather conditions were marginal with gusting wind and little lift around.
After selecting a CD for the day it was decided to fly to the rules currently on the web site with a 1 minute engine run and a timed 4 minute glide.
As there were only 4 competing we opted for 4 rounds with a fifth round allowed to replace the worst score, one of which was 1 min up and 1 min down.
The models varied from two 'Soaring Stars' (high powered), one medium powered 'Easy Oriale' and one low powered 'Anderson'.
Round one scores varied from 1-08 to 3-48, Rd 2 from 1-00 to 4-08, Rd 3 from 1-26 to 4-04, Rd 4 from 3-36 to 4-11.
Rd 5 saw all flyers improve on their worst scores as the weather had settled a little and scores recalculated with no change to the placings achieved after Round 4.
All fliers enjoyed the day and the President returned again after his working bee to see the last of the rounds flown and scores totalled - he was then tasked for the photo taking - thanks Andy.
Results:
| 1st | Ian Heather | (960 points -20) = 940 |
| 2nd | Alan Uren | (960 points -52) = 908 |
| 3rd | Roy Butterfield | (960 points -65) = 895 |
| 4th | Brian Deason | (960 points -368) = 592 |
CD and report - Alan Uren
Well the last Q500 and CPR for the year started wet. By 11 o'clock the field was set up but with only 2 entries in Q500 (Shaun and Graeme). We decided to push on and have 3 rounds anyway.
At the end it was Shaun 6 seconds clear of Graeme. Well done Shaun.
CPR
Lunch was had, the course was altered and 4 entries were taken. Les, Shaun, Graeme and Bill, yes that's right Billy had come along to play.
5 Rounds were flown with 1 to be dropped. Les and Shaun were clearly the stand outs but as it happens we couldn't put them together as Bill and Graeme had a frequency clash.
Billy flew very well for someone who hadn't flew for about 10 years in Pylon and his scores showed that he was getting very comfy as we progressed through the rounds. Well done Bill.
This goes to show it doesn't matter how long you've been out of it it doesn't take much to get back into it and I'm sure he will be back next year!
All in all 5 rounds were had in excellent conditions with Les the victor good stuff.
A big thanks to John, Andy, Garry and Allan for pushing buttons and starting us off.
Cheers,
Graeme Beagley
Results:
Q500
| Shaun | 317 |
| Graeme | 323 |
CPR
| Les | 458 |
| Shaun | 475 |
| Graeme | 553 |
| Bill | 757 |
...and here are the photos, thanks to Bill.
I spent Tuesday with the Northern Flying Group ( State field). This site is a great field with magnificent facilities. Club members were very hospitable and made me feel very welcome. This field is open to all MAAA members, the only requirement is that you need a member of the Northern Flying group to be there on the day and you must be signed in.
The best feature was the magnificent green mown field ( with water ), and great clubhouse facilities. The field is only Approx 1 Hr 45 min from Bendigo via Heathcote ,Romsey, Lancefield and Monegeeta
Check out Northern Groups web site for a map.
Report and photos by Bill Matthews
What are Fun Days? I though that most club members came out for a little of fun and laughter while competing in these rather simple events to improve their flying skills, but with only 5 pilots attending, it was a little disappointing to say the least.
Under cloudy skies, choppy winds and temp not too cold, we held our one and only Fun Day for the year. Four events were laid down, they were Spot Landings(5), Self Timed Flight (2mins), Loops (1minute) and Climb and Glide ( longest time).
Spot landing, it was Spot or touch and go, in a 15 metre circle, with 5 attempts but only one engine restart. Gary Smidge managed all 5 successfully, then Les Davis with 4, and Shaun Power with one, the others had trouble with the wind and failed to score.
Self Timed Flight, Brian Deason had the time worked out, missing by only 4 seconds,then Bill Matthews at 20 seconds off, and the rest maybe still counting.
Loops in 1 minute, Shaun, set a good score of 16 loops, then Gary flew scoring 14, followed by Bill who managed 11 then Brian with only 4, leaving only Les to fly. Les was going great until the engine stopped, the crankshaft broke and flew out prop and all, he was on 14 loops with time left, when the failure occurred, completing the 15 loop in the glide.
Climb and Glide, Shaun's Quickie 500 aircraft almost disappeared into the clouds, putting in the best score, followed by Gary then Bill and last was Brian, ( Les didn't fly).
Results:
| 1st | Shaun Power |
| 2nd | Gary Smidge |
| 3rd | Brian Deason |
Thanks to Andrew Thomas who came out to help me run, possibly the last Fun Day the club may have.
Report by Les Davis 5620.
(Photos by John Newman)
Whats Next? There is a Glider comp on the Grand final week end, 5 minute Drop out, and the following Monday night 28th is the Club Meeting
Mal Fields has compiled some fascinating old photos. Have a look here.
The fourth Great Texan Race was run on the 23 August, with all seven rounds flown, under quite reasonable weather conditions especially for the winter period.
It was a little disappointing that the first nats champion for Texan racing, Justin Reynolds, couldn't make it this year, along with a few other well known regulars. Never mind, we still did well with three new flyers attempting their first Texan race day, which is very encouraging. They were the well known Greg Lepp, Mike Kellett and Gary Flanagan (from Shepparton).
All flyers were at the field at 9am. The ten (10) entries were checked in and ready to race, but the heavy fog had put a hold on things, like being on a queue. At 10am the fog lifted and at 10.30 we were ready to race, and race we did, getting 3 rounds in before lunch.
Right from the first round it was on, with Steve Davis and Mike Kellett trying to swap paint. It was exciting to watch, and this was only the first race. It didn't stop with them, the next race it was on again with Rob Lauder, Les Davis and the Fawn team of Browny and Whitey. The ducking and weaving, over taking and under taking was keeping everybody on their toes, with the pilots using all the skills they had to avoid each other.
In the third heat they didn't miss out either, with two of the new flyers and the other two more experienced flyers. It was great to see all 4 aircraft cross the start line 4 abreast, look good and sounded great, then it separated into two races of two. If that doesn't sound exciting, wait till later.....
Three rounds were completed and we broke for lunch, at lunch a discussion took place on the new Formula 1 racing, Seems to be quite a bit of confusion over the aircraft specifications.
Back to the racing, again very close and exciting racing until, heat 3, after lunch,when it happened. A midair collision, between Rob Tunks and Murray Ellis, their aircraft slammed together coming down wind. Rob's crippled aircraft managed to fly down and land safely, while Murrays was floating down to the ground in bits and pieces.
The last three rounds were completed without any more mishaps, even though the cross winds strengthened, making the racing quite difficult, but the skill level of these flyers was such that they could handle these conditions, and all races were completed safely, even making good landings in the strong wind conditions.
With all the racing over I checked with our computer scoring operator, John Newman, to see how long, before he would have the scores done, and it was 30 seconds after the last plyon light was flashed, a printed sheet with all details and placings worked out, ready for the presentation, hows that for service, thanks John.
Placings in the GTR 2009:
| First | Steve Davis |
| Second | Les Davis |
| Third | Rob Lauder |
| Fourth | Team Fawn,(Brown-White) |
Thanks must go to those who work the cage, the button pushers. They were Gary, Macca, David and Ken, without them we can't race. And what about our race starter, Phil Organ, who was helped by Neil Friswell, together they keep the races rotating at a fair rate, so we got all 7 rounds in, and still finished at a reasonable time. Well done!
We also had visitors from Ballarat and Camperdown clubs, who came to have a look at Texan racing, maybe some new flyers for next year. If those flyers need more information or help we can be contacted through the club's web site, www.brcac.asn.au.
Thanks to Mike Farnan at Model Engines, for supplying all the fuel for our Texan racing. It helps to keep the entry fees at a minium, making Texan racing the most affordable class to race in. Now's the time for you to have a go at Texan racing.
Report by Les Davis 5620.
(Photos by Bill Matthews)
Sunday morning came with very thick fog and no wind. Was the fog going to clear in time for our race day? Yes it did, and the strong winds that were forecast, didn't. Today we had planed for 3 racing classes, Q500, CPR and Sports.
The 5 entries in the Q500 were off and racing by 11am, some wild flying was seen until the pilots settled down and got in the groove.
Graeme B. was in the groove and flying very tightly, recording the fastest times for the day, but the next 3 flyers were very closely bunched together with only 7 seconds separating them at the end.
Next was CPR, after the lunch break. The flight course was reset for off the course flying positions, with 8 entries 3 heats were run in each round.
Neil was unlucky to hit the pylon on landing, putting paid to his day. Most of the others flyers had some good races between them, with some close encounters, but all managed to avoid each other. The most exciting was the 3rd Heat, where Steve and Shaun swapped the lead many times during their races.
Now the Sports class, with only 3 entries, Darren with his OS55 that wouldn't run, Brian with his hot OS 15 (only hot while the engine was running) and Les with OS 40 PB, Brian was first away, followed by Les with his engine at half throttle to stay behind Brian, it was slow and painful, but a lot of FUN!.
Results: Q500
| 1st | Graeme Beagley. | 248 points |
| 2nd | Darren Touhey | 291 '' |
| 3rd | Phil Organ | 293 '' |
CPR
| 1st | Steve Davis | 366 points |
| 2nd | Shaun Power | 369 '' |
| 3rd | Les Davis | 371 '' |
Sports
| Brian Deason | Booby prize |
Thanks to the light marshals John, Andy, Charlie & Gary, and Alan as starter and not forgetting Bill for the pics, and note our lights work perfectly, can't say the same for our walkie talkies.
Next comp is Glider on the 16th (Ramjet) 4 in 20, 1pm start glider field, following that is The Great Texan Race, on the 23 rd (All day event).
Report Les Davis 5620
Some of the usual suspects, taking advantage of a fine day here!
Check out Alan Uren's new model, and some great documentation of it's construction here
Friday was a good day to test Old Timer models both Electric and IC. Photos.
At last we got our first Multitasking Glider Comp in (the previous one was blown out by very strong winds) but the weather gods were on our side this time. It was a rather mild winters day, with lightish winds and no chill factor, which made for a great days flying.
Seven entries were paid up, so on to the comp. Round 1 was Max loops off one launch, round 2 was a Spot landing, after a three minute flight, round 4 was Thermal/duration flight of ten minutes, and the 4th and final round was a second attempt at your worse score.
Round 1,was loops, and Mal Fields did well,scoring 24 loops,
Round 2,spot landing, and Alan Uren did best with a 2 mtr landing,
Round 3,Thermal/duration, and Ian Heather managed the best time for the day,
Round 4 Second attempt round,
Bill Matthews and Roy Butterfield were the only two who could improve their previous scores.
Results were as follows,
| 6th place | Bill Matthews |
| 5th place | Brian Deason |
| 4th place | Roy Butterfield |
| 3rd place | Les Davis |
| 2nd place | Ian Heather |
| Equal 1st place | Mal Fields, Alan Uren. |
A great day was had by all in a very easy to run comp; simple but with enough involvement to make it interesting. No aircraft damage made it that much better.
Thanks to those who fetched the bungee, time keepers etc.
Report, Les Davis 5620
Photos Alan Uren
Weather all week prior to the event, was wet, windy and very cold. In fact it was woeful but luckily it did clear enough for some racing on the Saturday and again on the Sunday, but boy was it ccold, actually it was freezing.
Saturday was really only a practice race day for the flyers, and Sunday was the trophy race day.
There were only small numbers there as there were a few away at the world champs, and the cold weather didn't help either.
Two Bendigo entrants did well on the Saturday in the Q 500 class, finishing 2nd and 3rd in the practice race, but Sunday was quite a bit different, with a higher grade of flyers there to race against.
Three Bendigo boys tried their hardest, but were outclassed, with Graeme Beagley doing the best for us, coming Second, with the other two finishing well down the list. ( but no broken aircraft )
The other classes, Quarter midget, F400 and FAI, only had one, or maybe two heats for their classes, so the day was not rushed, just cold. There were a couple of aircraft spread all over the ground, but it happens so quick you usually miss the disaster, never mind come back next year you may catch one then.
Report: Les Davis
Here's a few photos of the attendees by Bill.
A number of our members enjoyed the annual Bonfire night at the full size glider club in Raywood, Here's a few photos of what went on! Thanks to Bill Matthews.
Sunday morning brought a wet, cool, cloudy day with light northeasterly winds. By 1pm the drizzling rain had cleared in time for our competition.
Yes, it maybe hard to believe,but there was Seven(7), oldtimer aircraft sitting on the ground, waiting to be entered in our competition, when two(2) decided to have a test flight before the comp started, and yes, you can guess what happened. Now there were only five (5) left to fly.
An adjustment was made to the rules, to save the need for fly offs if required. This was that the over run times were counted and the lowest over run time would be the winner if all four maxes were scored.
Round one had Graeme, Brian and Ian. All got away nicely and managed to max out, next heat was Alan and Les, maxed out but Alan had a little engine trouble.
Round two, all entrants maxed out except Alan who just failed, by only seconds. Round three, same results as R2, with Alan still plagued by engine trouble.
Round four saw maxes to Les, Brian and Ian, with Graeme in trouble with a hand full of problems, which put paid to his day. In round five only two took up the option to fly, that was Brian and Ian, who both maxed out again, to try and improve the scores, which they both did.
Now to the results:
| 1st | Les Davis | (9) |
| 2nd | Brian Deason | (14) |
| 3rd | Ian Heather | (20) |
To the two flyers who had the mishap to bend their aircraft before the comp, you really did miss some really glorious air today, but never mind you be ready for the next oldtimer, won't you?
Report for CD, Ian Heather, by Les Davis. Photos by Bill Matthews
Don't forget the next club meeting, Monday 29th, with your fees to be paid by then, hopefully, so you can participate in the July Club events, etc.(VMPRA on the 5 July)
When I arrived at the glider field, there was no other members around, and the field gate was padlocked. The first thought that went through my mind was we've been locked out of another flying site. Not the case, the family owner just didn't want us in that particular paddock. He arrived not long after me and informed me of the situation, guiding me to another paddock that we could use.(phew).
Four more club members did turn up for the comp, so as we ready our aircraft to fly Mal Fields and Stu Sinclair asked could they have a test flight, as I was taking the entries, which turned out to be a bad omen, as both had managed to break some parts of their gliders.
This meant that we were down to only 3 entrants that could fly. First away was Mal Fields. Mal had alot of trouble handling his machine, the wind appeared to catch it, turning the aircraft around, and down wind, to where it touched the ground and cartwheeled. With no apparent damage, Mal was allowed a second attempt, this attempted also failed, only to find out later, that the servo tray had come loose.
Brian Deason was next away, climbing briskly away into the wind, the 45 second motor had Brian at a reasonable height,but no good lift could be found.
Next away was Les Davis with a larger, heavier type aircraft, and more powerful motor, and the climb was a lot steeper than, that of the others, and results showed, making the max time glide time, of 4 minutes easily.
The rest of the day went in the same vein, so the results were:
| 1st | Les Davis |
| 2nd | Brian Deason |
| 3rd | Mal Fields |
...and Stu Sinclair also ran, with Bill Matthews flashing his camera around (photos). Thanks to the 5 members who made the effort to support this Electric Glider event.
Report, Les Davis. 5620.
Next Comp Day, is the 21st June and its Oldtimer comp, 1pm at the Marong field
The flyer and entry form for this year's Great Texan Race have been put on-line! Check out the rules as well.
A few of the guys had new models trying out today. Here's a few photos!
Sunday morning brought rough weather, although not cold,the winds were very strong and very blustery,as the winds were from the north easterly direction. This is the worst winds, for low level flying, especially pylon racing, as the wind comes through the trees, being very turbulent.
Unfortunately the lights for the pylon were inoperative, as some electrical fittings, were lost or missing.
So what can we do?, the closet thing to pylon racing would be Speed Runs, to check the speeds of the racing aircraft or any aircraft for that matter.
We then set up a 200mtr straight line course. The task was to fly as fast as you can from one pylon to the other, first being down wind runs and later up wind runs.
The scores were added together, to get the averages, and then worked out for the KPH.
Thanks to Bill Matthews and Alan Rochier, who did the scoring and time keeping, without their help we wouldn't have had the fun that we did.
The times were as follows:
| Pilot | KPH | Aircraft | Engine |
|---|---|---|---|
| Les Davis | 156.31 | Q500 | Super Tigre 45 |
| Shaun Power | 156.18 | '' | OS 46 |
| Darren Touhey | 146.04 | '' | Thunder Tiger 46 |
| Brian Deason | 59.45 | Wombat Trainer | 2.5cc |
Photos were taken by Bill.M.
Report, Les D. 5620
Overall BRCAC won the day! BGC President Peter Raphael had the best score of the day, with Noel Young of BRCAC a close 2nd, followed by Robert(Robbie) Marshal (Associate member BGC) a close 3rd.
A good time was had by all. We had 18 entries, with 2 bungies in operation and up to 6 gliders in the air at any one time . A BBQ Lunch was served by BGC members, which was thoroughly enjoyed by every one.
At the end of the day every one retired to the BGC club house for a chat and social drink (BRCAC & BGC members alike ) , this was a most enjoyable end to a VERY ENJOYABLE DAY.
Check out some photos of the day.
On JUNE the 27th BGC is having a bonfire night, (this is an annual occurance ) with model flying through out the day, followed by a ROAST MEAL, SOUP, SWEETS ETC (all at a small cost).
Then the night flying starts! Yes, models flown in the dark with lights on the models only. Aaah , yes, well what a ball of fun we have!
ALL are INVITED. Yes , you can have a flight in a full size glider if you wish (during day light that is ). Persons can camp over night. The club rooms have toilets, showers, breakfast making facilities etc, with flying continuing the next day if one so desires
Thanks to Neil Friswell for the report
On Sunday we are having at the Bendigo Glider Club (Raywood) a glider comp between the Bendigo Glider Club and BRCAC. This will be called "THE GLIDING CHALLENGE" ( this by the way is on PRIVATE PROPERTY ). Here are the rules:
| The glider must be no more than 2 Mtr (can be less) |
| The glider can be any sort (ie, any construction , any control) |
| Total flight time of 30 mins , but must be over 5 flights , with a max flight time of no more than 10 mins. |
| No set flight order, ( pilot can choose when they fly, but must have 5 flights at end of day ) |
| It is a team effort. The team score will be averaged out. Highest average team score wins |
2 Bungies will be in operation
Phil Organ is CD
The comp will start at 11AM and a BBQ lunch will be put on. There will be a charge, but this will be at cost price only. Bendigo Glider Club Facilities will be available (ie Toilets , club house etc).
Hot and Cold Drinks , chocolate bars, chips and peanuts available.
If you go to the Bendigo Gliding Club site there is details showing how to get there. It is in Borough Rd Raywood.
If you have any questions or queries please ring or email Neil Friswell, BRCAC Secretary.
"What a BLAST!" Of cold, very windy air.. That is..
Early indications were that the strong wind conditions would prevent this great new competition to be undertaken, and so it did. Such is the way of the weather..
Thanks to Les, Brian and Alan for coming along anyway.. Thanks also to Bill and Alan for apologies. Rather than waste the afternoon several "Tomboy" electric models in various stages of construction were shown and discussed at length.. Hopefully this class will soon add to the club's diverse flying competitions."
Mal Fields ( CD )
The 62nd Australia Nationals were held at Cootamundra on the 19th of April. This is a report on the Large ScaleTexan racing event.
Only 12 entries were received for the first ever Large Scale Racing event held as a part of the Nationals. When race time came, the were only 9 entries that actually got to race, but any one of six had the ability to win, with a lot of close scores.
The flying field at Coota was in great shape, with the rain that they had a week before. Green and smooth, and the weather was ideal for racing.
With such small numbers, 3 heats per round and only 5 rounds, it was all over fairly quickly. Steve D. was in the first race, and flew his fast, smooth and low style. This followed throughout all 5 races.
Les D. was in the second heat and had some great tussles with Justin Reynolds, who would always get away by the 7th lap to win every race.
The third heat was a gentlemen's race, not very fast but all had simular speeds, and it was entertaining to watch. Most of the rounds were simular all day, except for some woeful landings, with retracts and wheels lying/flying all over the ground.
Results:
| Aust Nats Champion | Justin Reynolds |
| Second place | Steven Davis |
| Third place | Les Davis |
Report and pics by Les Davis
Checkout Bill's photos !
MULTITASKING is a new competition which , like Hokins Heroes (currently in recession ) involves various glider competition elements. However it is less complicated and does not need as many contestants to get it going.
Autumn is a great time for glider flying as the heat has gone ( along with the flies ) and although the grass is unlikey to be shooting up yet conditions should be quite pleasant.
If you have a glider and can spare the time please come along and support this traditional aspect of our sport.
It was a 1 PM start with 6 entries , conditions could have been better , it was windy , cloudy , windy , cold , warm , windy , cold , and yes cloudy as well as the above.
Brian Deason had very good flights before the comp STARTED , but once the comp got under way he just couldn't keep his motor running , hence not good official flights. But any way flying got under way with 5 rounds being held. Alan Roshier & Andrew Thomas turned up and Volunteered to be time keepers (thanks chaps )
Results:
G Sinclair had 4 Max's,A Uren had 2 Max's , L Davis & K Battersby had 1 Max a piece.
| 1st | G Sinclair |
| 2nd | A Uren |
| 3rd | L Davis |
| 4th | K Battersby |
| 5th | W Mathews |
| 6th | B Deason |
A Successful day was had by all, and Bill Mathews took lots of photos of the day.
Report: Neil Friswell secretary BRCAC
CD Ian Heather
A few of our members got down to the Avalon Air Show. Here are some photos by Bill and Neil
Sunday morning , the weather was warm with swirling, changing winds, having no wind sock didn't help either, as the wind on Saturday had torn the sock to shreds.
Six flyers entered, to fly as long as they could on 150 mls of their own fuel.
This year two rounds were flown and your best score was the one used to decide who was the winner.
Round one saw Alan, Brian, Shaun and Bill put in some good scores, using all their fuel allocation. Round two saw only two flyers, Les and Shaun improve on their previous times.
Results:
| 1st | 47m 14s | Shaun Power |
| 2nd | 43m 46s | Alan Uren |
| 3rd | 37m 35s | Brian Deason |
| 4th | 32m 20s | Bill Matthews |
| 5th | 25m 14s | Les Davis |
| 6th | 9m 33s | Robbie Marshall |
All the contestants liked the new concept, and this will be used from now on.
Thanks to Alan Roshier for his support with the timing, it makes running the comps so much easier when you have a little bit of help and support.
Report by Les D.
Photos by Bill M.
Next comp, "Old timer event" Apr 5th.
Next meeting 30 March , Kangaroo Flat, YMCA.
Sunday's weather brought a mild warm type day very suitable for flying, quite a change form the weather we have had to endure.
Six flyers arrived to fly in this low key, Fun day event. The pits had an array of various types of aircraft, such as,Trainers ,Scale, Glider, and Aerobatic types.
Most of the flyers had many flights, while a couple were unfortunate to have small mishaps, although nothing serious to report.
Bill Matthews lolly pop trainer has a new lease of life, it was screaming around the sky, and Bill was loving it. Mal Fields had a 3D type aircraft, and he was doing insideout loops and tumbling rolls, real exciting stuff. Brian Deason had his powered gliders and was hooking thermals time after time, and didn't want to come down,he was just enjoying it.
At 3.30 we called a halt to the flying to give out some prizes, to complete the day event.
Prizes went to :
| Most exciting flying | Mal Fields |
| Most enjoyable flying | Brian Deason |
| Fast and furious | Bill Matthews |
| Hard luck story | Alan Roshier |
The club President, Andrew Thomas, called in to see how things were going, during the afternoon. B M, took a few photos of the day and a good day was had by all, report by Les Davis.
Next MEETING, is on the 23 of Feb Don't forget,K.Flat.
Next COMP, is "Duration" with limited fuel, 11am start at Marong Field, need more info? contact Les D.
Loops and Duration was the first comp your this year, held at the power field, because of the extreme weather temperatures that can be had in February. This year was no exception it was bloody hot, but a bit of careful planing saw the contestants, only out in the open, for a very short time for each flight.
Entries were only 5 which made it easy to get all round in, they were Les,Bill,Brian,Ian and Mal.
It was planed for 2 rounds of each ,Loops and Duration, because of the temperature, first round of loops, saw Mal excel, producing 16 loops, and the lead.
Second round ,Duration, saw Brian show his skills and produce a 10 minute max time, and take over the lead.
A 20 minute cool of break was had,time to discuss on how everybody was going to improve their scoring.
Third round, loops again,the pressure was on , Les managed 15, then Ian produce 17,and Brian not to be out done, turn in 22 loops, to take best score in loops for the day.
Fourth and final round, Duration,Les was first away and scored a 10 minute max score, but Ian knew if he could get a 10 minute max score, he could just beat Les, and he did, well done Ian.
The results were as follows:
| Brian Deason | First, with max score and best loops. |
| Ian Heather | Second place |
| Les Davis | Third place |
| Mal Fields | Fourth place |
| Bill Matthews | Fifth place |
Thats the first comp for the year over, and thank you to the flyers and their ability to cope with the weather conditions.
Next comp day is, Electric Fun Day, lets hope for better weather for this one on the 15th of Feb.
Report by Les D.
